Spatial

Tag: Center for Desert Archaeology

BLM Will Not Lease Drilling Parcels Near Arches, Canyonlands: In the face of
intense opposition from the National Park Service, members of Congress and a top
official from President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, the U.S. Bureau of
Land Management backed down Tuesday from its plan to sell oil and gas leases
near national parks and wilderness-quality areas in Utah on Dec. 19.
[1] http://www.sltrib.com/outdoors/ci_11072818
[2] http://www.cdarc.org/page/5erd
[Southwest Archaeology Making the News – A Service of the Center for Desert
Archaeology
Southwest Archaeology Today is a service provided by the Center for Desert
Archaeology to provide current news about topics in archaeology, history and
historic preservation in the American Southwest and Mexican Northwest.
Back issues of Southwest Archaeology Today are available at:http://www.cdarc.org/pages/articles.php?req=newsletters2]

But if only 22 out of “more than 90” ‘sensitive’ leases were affected, what about the other 68+ leases you ask?

“It’s still a disaster in the making,” said Steve Bloch, an attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “Parcels [that Park Service officials] said were important are still on [the sale list]. That seems a pretty clear indication the Park Service was rolled by someone higher up in the administration.” [1]

Predictably, Mike Snyder, director of NPS’ Intermountain region said they were not “rolled.”

Snyder denied Bloch’s claim. “We got no pressure from the administration. None,” he said. “I got support to do what was best for the parks.” [1]

And if you believe that, I’ve got some property outside of Las Vegas you might be interested in